My Messenger-only address is “XtahenydotcomX@XhotmailX.Xcom” -remove the Xs.

Do not use this address for email. It is hard enough getting everybody to stop using my old yahoo addresses, let alone have to check another email address.

I guess this is maybe my 10th or 15th email address I have had in the short history of email.

The Xs

Some people may ask why added the Xs to the email address.

The answer: the spammers (mass emailers) use software programs to ‘spider’ the web for email addresses. These software programs automatically pick up email addresses based on the html links or the combination of digits, example@example.com for example. They may detect the @ and .com and record that address for their spam.

An example: A while back David Boon posted a comment from Boonland on Tom Gara’s blog An Irish Experience. He included an email address after the comment. Have a look for yourself, near the bottom of the front page. Now, unfortunately, that email address does not actually exist. However, this non-existance has not stopped several spammers from spamming the address.